Amateur Radio Stations heard via ISS

This page documents Amateur Radio data digipeated by the International
Space Station. In order to appear on this page, a position report in a valid
APRS format must be digipeated through ISS, then be heard by an internet gateway
station, which then forwards it on to the APRS Internet System. All APRSIS data is
archived on this machine. Packets that came through the ISS are recalled for this
display. For more info on the technology involved, see the links at the bottom
of the page.

The system will also show those stations that have been heard via ISS but have
not sent a position report in the table at the end of the page.

If you are having trouble getting onto this page first be sure you hear the ISS returning your packets.
From my own experience I can say that only 1 out of every 5 or 10 packets I hear direct from ISS make it to the internet.
The reason is the lack of Internet Gateways, or IGates. Although the footprint of the ISS is wide, because of polarity and antenna blockage more IGates are needed than one might otherwise expect.
Almost all APRS programs have the ability to function as IGates, consult the documentation
of your program of choice for details...the more the better!

If the page does not show fresh data, it may be due to problems with the ISS radios, or because they turn off the ham systems before spacewalks or dockings. Voice and SSTV (usually on 145.800) will also keep the packet system off the air.
See this page for the ISS radio status.

The current position of ISS, as well as the 5 and 10 minute future positions are also
shown on the map.